Pokerface
by superzedu
Summary: Ellis and Nadie go on a night out together, and when they've had just a bit too much to drink, things go way out of hand... or not? EllisxNadie. One-shot.


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><em>_**Pokerface  
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>Nadie licked some salt off her hand, downed her tequila shot -her third one, that is- and quickly squeezed out a wedge of lemon in her mouth for the sour juices to soothe the burning feeling in her throat. She then slammed her empty glass back upon the table with a loud thud and grinned triumphantly, and the guys around the table bawled at her, stomping their fists in the air or drinking their own shot in reply. Still grinning, the auburn-haired young woman signalled to the woman behind the bar and ordered another one, but this time for Ellis.<p>

"Um, Nadie, are you sure?" the blonde girl replied, looking into the eyes of the maverick, whose pupils were somewhat dilating.

"Of course! It's perfectly harmless."

"Alright..." Ellis said and cautiously took the drink from the woman at the bar. She proceeded to smell the transparent, honey-coloured liquor, but quickly pulled back, grimacing, her violet eyes searching for confirmation in the blue ones of Nadie. The latter nodded, put her hands behind her head, sat back in her chair and grinned widely, seemingly preparing to watch the show.

After Ellis put some salt on her hand and licked it off, she took a deep breath, held the glass to her lips and, whilst loudly encouraged by the men, gulped down the drink. Almost instantly, her face was hinted with disgust, and the blonde quickly put the piece of lemon in her mouth, earning a burst of laughter from Nadie.

"This is so disgusting." Ellis said, putting the empty glass down, "and stop laughing!" she continued, though she couldn't prevent a small laugh from passing her lips as she playfully smacked Nadie on the top of her head.

Nadie had come to her house earlier, asking if she'd want to go and get something to drink with some friends. At first, she didn't want to, but in the end, she just couldn't say no to Nadie. So the mahogany-haired woman took her to some pub, and when she got there, the enjoyable atmosphere had gotten her a little bit loose over time, resulting into drinking disgusting liquors.

The cafe where they were at was indeed quite lively. Smoke from cigars and cigarettes hung thick in the room, partially clouding the sight. Most of the people around were men, but there were also women, the majority of them standing at the bar, men in pursuit. In the back, a group of people was playing pool, laughing and yelling loudly. All in all, the pub was very much alive, and actually, Ellis quite liked it.

"Hey, Nadie, wanna play 'sum poker?" a guy with a beard suddenly asked, flipping cards in his hands, grinning a flashy, toothy smile.

"Oh, hell yeah, you bet!" the Nadie laughed, also grinning like a Cheshire cat. Then, she suspiciously eyed Ellis, a smirk now tugging at the corners of her lips, "Ellis, are you in?"

"Um..." for a moment, Ellis didn't know exactly what to say. For one, she had never played poker before in her entire life, and two, something about Nadie's grin made her think twice. But, not wanting to be the party-pooper, she agreed.

"You gotta teach me, though."

"'Course, 'course." Nadie said, pulling Ellis' chair closer to her so she could explain the rules. The guy with the beard spread out five cards, all exposed: a four of clubs, a king of spades, four of hearts, a seven of spades and a eight of spades. Then, he gave Nadie two cards. The blue-eyed woman showed them to Ellis: an ace of spades and a four of diamonds.

"See, every round you start off with three of five cards exposed on the table, and every turn, the next one is exposed, until all five are." she explained, taking a sip of her drink in between, "With each turn, you can either raise, fold, or call. If you fold, your cards are basically crappy, and you can play again next round, yeah?" Nadie said, looking at Ellis to see if she'd understood. The blonde nodded and Nadie continued.

"When you think you have a good go with your cards and want to go on, you raise, and you've got to lay in some cash... but, since we're playing with chips, you gotta lay in chips. The amount you lay in; the rest has to agree and put in the same amount, raise more or fold. But if everyone calls, the pot stays the same. Makes sense, right?" she smiled.

After that, Nadie explained the various winning combinations. Flushes, one, two and three pair, full house, kickers and what not. It was so much information that Ellis was a bit stunned that Nadie knew all this. But, the blonde noticed how expertly the cards flew through her fingers, signaling that she'd played it some times before.

"But, you gotta know, you gotta bluff to win, eh?" the bearded guy cut in, winking. Nadie grinned and nodded, collected the cards and began to shuffle them. Meanwhile, the man called some of his friends and soon they were with six, Ellis and Nadie being the only women. The bearded guy orded some more drinks as Nadie began to deal the cards.  
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>The guys bawled as loud as they could, cheering and clashing their beer bottles against each others as Nadie swiftly removed her cape, revealing her short top she wore underneath it and, Ellis dared to say, sublime cleavage. Then, she took a big draft from her beer and proceeded to deal the cards again, laughing loudly.<p>

Ellis looked at her cards, seeing she had an ace of spades and a six of hearts. Throughout the game, she'd learned that these weren't exactly high cards, especially not since on the table lay a king of diamonds, a king of clubs and a five of hearts. But, deciding to bluff, since that basically was which the game was about, the blonde proceeded to raise.

Two cards and raises further, the two remaining cards were a four of diamonds and a nine of hearts. So Ellis knew that only her ace would be her highest card. She reluctantly showed her cards, biting her lip as the men and Nadie yelled and showed her much, much better hands.

"Ellis! Take off your clothes!" the bounty hunter laughed heartily, holding her beer bottle in the air in some kind of cheer before gulping it down.

Somehow, Ellis couldn't exactly recall how she'd gotten herself in this situation. But, since she'd consumed quite a lot of drinks, she didn't even care anymore. The blonde proceeded to take off her jacket, flinging the cloth above her head before throwing it to the side, under loud appreciation and laughter of the guys.

Nadie dealed again. This time, Ellis had much better cards, much to her delight, causing her to win the round. Nadie'd lost. Collecting the chips as her reward, the blonde threw Nadie a sly glance, raising her eyebrow. But, Nadie only grinned back as she proceeded to seductively take off her top, inch by inch, playfully smirking at Ellis.

Now she was only in her bra, and the guys went wild. But, at this point Ellis also felt weirdly attracted to Nadie, and she grinned crookedly as she shamelessly let her eyes roam over the elder woman's cleavage and partially exposed breasts. Her cheeks felt unusually warm, but Ellis just blamed the alcohol, quickly taking another swig from her beer as she, with difficulty, tore her eyes off of Nadie.

After two more rounds, Ellis lost again, now having to take off her top too. As the men cheered loudly and ordered more drinks, the blonde eyed Nadie insecurely. She didn't quite feel brave enough to just take off her shirt in front of guys she didn't know, but, with the alcohol running through her veins and the subtle glimmer of pleasure readable in Nadie's blue eyes, she took it off after all.

"Nice." Nadie just simply stated as her eyes scanned Ellis' body, a smirk playing on her lips. Her stomach lurched pleasantly at Nadie's words and Ellis blushed deeply, but instead of shying away, she retorted. Probably because of the alcohol, but the blonde cared little.

"Like what you see?"

"Hmm." the auburn-haired woman replied, still not taking her eyes off Ellis. Though the latter didn't know what this weird attraction to Nadie meant, she liked it. Her heart was beating like mad down in her chest and a warmth was spread across her cheeks.

The guys bawled even louder at seeing the two girls interact like that, and even though it was just flirtatious behaviour, they had an sudden thing to ask. Ordering some more tequila shots, the beardy guy proposed his idea.

"Say, blondie, why don't ya take a body shot off Nadie, eh?"

"Body shot?"

"Yeah, you know. You gotta drink a tequila shot off of Nadie's body."

Ellis blinked a couple of times, not entirely seeing how that'd work. But, seeing the most devious smirk that was plastered on Nadie's face, just as well as on the face of the bearded guy, she guessed it was something rather sensual... Or something like that. Her cheeks flushed uncomfortable warm and red as Nadie slyly grinned at her.

"Sure." Ellis said, trying to sound a little indifferent about it as she followed the man and Nadie over to the bar. The blonde couldn't really think straight anymore, but her heart was pounding inside her chest as Nadie crawled on top of the bar and laid herself down with that mischievous smirk still plastered on her face.

The beardy guy enthusiastically hopped behind the bar and filled a glass with tequila. He gave it to Nadie, who then proceeded to calmly stuff it in between her breasts, while she tried not to spill any liquor. Then, the man put some salt on the bounty hunter's abdomen and gave her a citrus wedge which she put in her mouth and held it there. Her eyes flickered over to Ellis, who stood nailed to the ground.

Wanting to say something, Ellis opened her mouth, but then shut it again. Words failed to come out as she just gazed at Nadie laying there. Her thoughts were too messy and chaotic to make any sense now. All she could feel was her face heating up and her heart beating loudly. The young girl gulped as she walked over to the bar when Nadie beckoned her to climb up too.

Ellis placed herself on top of Nadie, her legs on either side of the maverick, hands on either side of her head. Looking into her eyes, Ellis' stomach lurched. Hesitating, she brought her head down a little, still not breaking eye contact with Nadie.

"C'mon blondie, you ain't scared, are ya?"

When those words reached Ellis' ears, a switch sort of clicked in her head. She didn't know what it meant, but it somehow made her feel very euphoric, and she smiled at Nadie before she bent down and licked the salt off the auburn-haired woman's stomach.

Ellis mind spun around when she moved up to the shot that Nadie'd put between her breasts. Her breath was heavy when she used her mouth to get the glass out, so very careful not to let her lips touch any of the bare skin. Gulping down the shot, Ellis used one shaky hand to throw the glass away as she moved upwards, to the lemon that Nadie held with her mouth. As the liquid was beginning to burn down her throat, she took a deep breath and pressed her lips against Nadie's, biting the lemon wedge so that the burning feeling disappeared.

Though Ellis knew she was supposed to move back now, she let her lips last on Nadie's just a little bit longer, enjoying the feel of the bounty hunter's soft, warm mouth as her heart skipped a few dangerous beats. Only after a few more seconds, the blonde pulled back, spewing out the citrus piece.

Nadie only grinned as Ellis looked at her, the blue-eyed woman getting up from her lying position, suddenly moving her head dangerously close to the blonde. Ellis' breath hitched in her throat as the bounty hunter, with a grin on her lips, whispered in her ear.

"I'm onto you, Ellis."  
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>Sounds of banter and loud talking filled the empty, dark streets as two figures stumbled across the road, holding on to each other for support, their shadows long as they ventured into the light of a lone streetlight. It was surprisingly mild outside for early April and though it was late, they were -obviously- still up.<p>

Ellis and Nadie were nearing the latter's house by now, the little and quite shabby-looking two-story apartment already visible in the weak light, it's windows reflecting the shiny image of the moon.

"Hah, hey, Ellis, you know... you know. You're really good at poker, you know?" Nadie said, grinning widely as her eyes tried to focus on the blonde next to her.

"Yeah sure, you, you poker queen." Ellis slurred, pointing her finger at Nadie but missing her target by inches, "You, you-" she continued, not finishing her retort because she was laughing uncontrollably. She held her stomach as the laughs just kept on coming, for no reason in particular.

"Wha-? What're you laughing at?"

Ellis nearly collapsed to the ground as she tried to hold the streetlight for support, her knees buckling as the laughter shook her whole body heavily. The sound of her laughter resonated all the way through the abandoned street, and somewhere far, very far in the back of her mind, Ellis hoped they wouldn't wake anyone.

"Heyheyheyyy~" Nadie hick-upped as she grabbed Ellis by her shoulders and tried to look her in the eyes, "You aren't laughing at me, are ya?"

All the blonde could do was stutter a few incomprehensible words, or rather, attempts at forming words, before bursting out in laughter again, her small frame shaking in her fit of giggles. Nadie pouted, not agreeing with the reaction. So the bounty hunter tilted Ellis' head upward with one hand and pressed her lips upon those of the blonde without any warning, shutting her up completely.

The silence returned to the dark streets as the kiss lasted. Ellis had gone out of her mind; though she stood nailed to the ground, unable to do anything, her thoughts had gone wild. But, because of her alcohol-induced state, everything that could've made sense, didn't. All that she could clearly feel was Nadie's warmth so close to her and the softness of the maverick's lips against hers. And the way it felt so __good___._

Nadie pulled back when the need to air became too unbearable, and she looked at Ellis quite goofily, "Now that's better, ain't it?"

Ellis stood speechless, her mind still reeling from the kiss. Nothing made sense and something in the back of her mind said everything was so not okay, but something else had also snapped inside her, something which unraveled a huge longing for the mahogany-haired woman in front of her.

The blonde swayed slightly on her legs as she tasted the faint sweetness of liquor on her lips and breathed in the suddenly very intoxicating scent of alcohol mixed with Nadie's own perfume. __She just... she... kissed me?__

"Ellis~?"

"Y-yes?" she unsurely whispered, gulping hard to somehow regain her voice.

"C'mon, let's go you silly." Nadie slurred, grabbing Ellis' hand and dragging her off to her house, as if nothing had just happened. While stumbling along with the elder woman, Ellis tried to comprehend all that was going on, but her delayed thoughts failed to succeed. It was as if her mind had shut down, but she could feel her heart reel in her chest, afraid it would jump out.

"Now... where did I leave my keys..."  
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>Sunlight began poking through Nadie's eyelids, the orange glow forcing her to open her eyes a little. But before she could fully open them, she squeezed her blue eyes shut again: she could feel a massive headache coming up, and Nadie, unfortunately enough, knew that bright sunlight would only increase it.<p>

Her mind reeled as she recalled some of the things that had happened yesterday, but Nadie just wanted to sleep a little more. The auburn-haired woman groaned and wanted to turn around to look at the alarm clock, but then she felt a soft and warm presence being pressed up against her back, making her unable to move. Two arms slowly enveloped her waist, pulling her close, and a soft, almost familiar sounding purr of contentment caressed her ear.

Nadie gently smiled; it didn't alarm her as much as it would be when she would've woken up like this with some random girl. After all, this was Ellis. And Ellis was special.

Careful not to wake the blonde, Nadie gently turned around in her arms, and though her headache was really starting to come up now, she placed herself back into Ellis' arms, now looking at the smaller girl's face. Her pulse went up a notch and another smile played on Nadie's lips when she saw that oh so pretty face.

Ellis looked absolutely, brilliantly beautiful. The morning sunlight made her face glow with an almost angel-like shine, the shadows on her face playing smoothly across her features whenever the sun hid behind a cloud. Her expression was calm, peaceful. Almost happy. It was the only thing in the world that could ever make Nadie relax.

"Ellis." she sighed, moving her hand up to the blonde's face to brush some hair behind her ear. Her hand lingered on her cheek, softly caressing her skin. Nadie smiled and let her eyes dance all over the breathtaking sight.

If Ellis would only know how she feels. If only she had the courage to just tell her how she feels about her, or to just bluntly kiss her. Just to see if she feels the same. It wouldn't have been a waste if she rejected her, she wouldn't care. At least Ellis would know about her feelings, and that would be enough.

Nadie took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a minute, the darkness being a very welcome feeling for her headache. __If only...  
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>Ellis woke up with a start, her vivid dream coming to a thundering halt. She sat up straight in bed and looked around, eyes wide and panic racing through her veins when she didn't recognize the room she was in. It took her a few moments to realize it was Nadie's bedroom.<p>

Slumping back down with a heavy sigh, Ellis closed her eyes. That dream... the blonde's stomach made a somersault when she thought about it just now. Trying her best to keep breathing regularly, Ellis wondered why she had dreamt about Nadie. Who was, in fact, kissing her in her dream. And the way it all seemed so real...

"Oh God." Ellis whispered. Flashes and bits of memory from the night before came rushing back to her with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, causing her heart to drop and her stomach to lurch. She remembered the kiss, the feeling of Nadie's soft lips against her own, the faint taste of alcohol, Nadie's warmth. It suddenly made sense why she dreamt of the bounty hunter.

But she couldn't be in love with Nadie because of one kiss, could she? When they were both drunk, too. And because of that, it probably wouldn't have meant anything to Nadie anyhow. Ellis took a shaky breath. It was nothing. Just nothing.

She turned around in bed, trying to steady her heartbeat and to force her thoughts on to something else, when she noticed Nadie was not lying beside her. And, the spot next to her wasn't warm anymore too. Ellis frowned. Then, she stepped out of bed, put on some decent clothes and decided to look for her.

But Nadie was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in the shower, not in the living room or the study. The blonde wandered downstairs, to the kitchen. "Nadie?"

"Oh, are you awake?"

Ellis peeked around the corner, her eyes landing on Nadie's blue ones. Immediately turning a shade of red, she carefully went to stand behind Nadie and softly asked what she was cooking. She had to admit, it smelled wonderful.

"Hmm, something you'll like. Come, sit down, it'll be done in a minute." the mahogany-haired woman replied, winking at Ellis. The blonde went to sit over at the table, her gaze moving to Nadie oh so often. Though Ellis cursed herself for it, she couldn't help it. She didn't know what it was, but she just couldn't help it. Maybe she really was in love with her, but just didn't know until yesterday. After all, she always felt an amazing connection with Nadie. Ellis could never really explain why, but maybe this was just why.

"Earth to Ellis, Earth to Ellis. You there?" Nadie's sweet, soft voice breathed in her ear from a suddenly very close proximity, stopping her thoughts, and the blonde had to suppress the shiver running down her spine.

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

"The food's done." the maverick gently squeezed Ellis' shoulders for a bit before sitting down on a chair across from Ellis, grinning and not breaking eye contact with the latter. Ellis smiled, hoping that Nadie wouldn't hear her heart beating out of her chest.

They ate in silence for a while, and Ellis was beginning to feel very awkward. She could feel the tension between them in the air, though Nadie seemed unruffled. While she absentmindedly poked her food with a fork, Ellis' thoughts wandered off again. Was it really that bad that she liked Nadie? She always felt comfortable and appreciated around her. Why would it be weird that she loved her?

It felt a bit unnatural to Ellis that she could come to terms with her feelings so quickly, but it was just so easy. Nadie... was just Nadie. The one who'd always been here for her, the one that could always make her laugh and feel happy. Nadie was the only one that could ever make her happy. It wouldn't be weird at all.

"Hey, you okay there?" Nadie asked.

"W-what?"

"You seem so zoned out. Something wrong?" Nadie gently asked again, putting her fork down and looking at Ellis with a concerned look. Ellis gulped. Would she tell what was on her mind, or was that way too soon? Even so, she probably wouldn't even remember about last night anymore...

"No, no I'm fine."

"Don't you like the food? You've barely touched it." the blue-eyed woman continued, trying to look Ellis in the eyes. The latter took a deep breath and looked up at Nadie, at those blue eyes that suddenly seemed a thousand times prettier. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"No, that's not it..." Ellis said, putting up some sort of smile. Then she gathered all the courage she could muster, "It's just that.. I-I want to talk to you a-about last night."

Nadie nodded, encouraging her to go on. The younger girl sighed. There was no turning back now, was there? She'd just better get this over with before her nerves would get the best of her.

"Well, um, I really don't know how to say this, but... you um, kissed me last night." Ellis stuttered and proceeded to look down at her untouched food, too scared to look Nadie in the eyes. Too scared to see her reaction. But the silence stretched on, only making Ellis feel worse and worse. After what felt like an hour, she dared to look up.

Nadie's expression was a mix between confusion and some sort of guilt. Her eyes gleamed in a way that was unknown to Ellis, and a deep and wondering frown was spread across her brow.

"I... I kissed you?"

"Yeah. B-but it's okay, you were drunk, I-I can understand that you meant n-nothing else and-" Ellis rambled on and moved her gaze back to the table, feeling disappointed. She should've known it meant nothing to Nadie. She was drunk, why else would she kiss her? But then she heard a soft sigh and the scraping of the wooden chair over the floor, and before she could finish her sentence, Nadie had locked her lips against her own.

It wasn't so much as shock that waved through Ellis this time; just an immensely euphoric feeling. It felt so good, so natural to feel those lips again, to taste her again, to feel Nadie's warmth again that Ellis knew she was in love. Her mind went numb as she kissed Nadie back. All she knew was the she wanted to stay like this forever.

Nadie gasped as she felt the blonde responding, and she quickly pulled back, outing another soft sigh. She pulled Ellis out of her chair and pressed the smaller girl tightly against herself.

_"_Did you really think I'd just kiss you because I was drunk?" Nadie chuckled, the sound of it nearly melting Ellis who was feeling lost in her grip.

"I've always liked you, Ellis. Very much. It's a shame I needed a whole lot of booze to let the feelings flow, and I'm so sorry it had to be this way." she continued, taking a deep breath. Ellis was half listening by now; she felt so dazzled that her knees nearly buckled. If she didn't have Nadie for support she might've collapsed.

"I love you, Ellis."

Nadie let go of the blonde for a bit so she could look her in the eyes. Those wonderful, lilac eyes she adored so. Ellis smiled, feeling so euphoric, happy and so at place, and pressed a brief kiss on Nadie's lips. "I love you, too."

"Now, let's have a drink, we need to celebrate!"  
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><em><strong>An: **_wueeee! El Cazador needs waaaaay more fics! So I've decided to write one of my own to fill up the wonderful EllisxNadie collection here on FF! I hope you all liked it: just for the record, I never watched the anime, I just heard of it and seen some AMV's and the like, read some fics, done some research. I just adore Nadie. But anyhow, therefore, I hope it's in character! I think I did quite ok.

If you think not, have any other comments, or just find it VERY awesome, please:  
><em><strong>Read&amp;Review!<br>**_====

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><em><em><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own El Cazador de la Bruja or any character used.<br>**__====


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